Bedstead post and rail joint-coupling.



PATENTED FEB. 17,. 1903.

A. W. BUSBY. BEDSTEAD' POST AND RAIL JOINT GOUPLING.

APPLIUATION FILED OCT. 28, 1902.

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fl Z A TTOHNE TS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR WILLIAM BUSBY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

BEDSTEAD POST AND RAIL JOINT-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 720,887, dated February 17', 1903.

Application filed October 28, 1902.

To all 1071,0122, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR WILLIAM BUSBY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and Improved Bedstead Post and Rail Joint-Coupling, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to aclass of dovetail connections employed for detachably connecting the posts of a bedstead with the side rails of the same, and has for its object to provide a novel, simple, stroug, and neat device of the character indicated which may be readily joined together and easily disconnected for detachment of the rails from the bedposts, is available for wooden or metal bedsteads, and that enables angle-iron side rails to be connected with the bedposts, so as to'dispose the outer or inner surfaces of the rails uppermost, as may be desired.

The invention consists in the novel constructicn and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described, and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view showing the coupling connected so as to dispose a side of the angle-iron rail uppermost. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the connection of parts changed so as to dispose the angular side of the bedstead-rail uppermost. Fig. 3is a transverse sectional view substantially on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a transverse sectional view substantially on the line 4 4 in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an end viewof one section of the post and rail-coupling detached and seen in the direction of the arrow n; in Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the coupling member which is affixed on an end of the bed-rail.

In the drawings that illustrate the application of the invention to a metal bedstead, 10 indicates a metal bedstead-post, of cylindrical form, which may be either solid or tubular, and 11 an angle-iron side rail for the bedstead.

The post and rail coupling which embodies Serial No. 129,105. (No model.)

the features of invention comprises two sections, preferably of metal, having a quadrilateral form in cross-section, one part having two channels that cross each other at a right angle and the other part being provided with a diagonal tongue formation adapted to enter and interlock with either of the channels that, in elfect, are sockets for the separate reception of the tongue. Preferably the coupling-section 12, which is channeled in its end wall, is affixed upon the post 10 at a suitable point and projects at a rightangle therefrom.

In the end wall of the body of the couplingsection 12 two channels or sockets 13 are formed, which cross each other at a right angle and are disposed at an angle of forty-live degrees to the longitudinal axis of the post 10. The similar channels 13 are in the form of tapered openings essentially circular in cross-section; but they cut through the true end wall of the body-section and have the ends which are of greatest diameter disposed at the upper corners of said body-section, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, said corners being flattened to render theupper terminal edges of the channels level, the same being true with regard to thelower corners of the bodysection through which the channels extend.

The remaining body-section 14 for the twopart coupling that'is aftixed upon an end of the angle-iron rail 11 is formed of the same material and is essentially the same in shape as the body-section 12, being substantially quadrilateral in cross seotion and having its corners flattened for a portion of its length.

A tongue 15 is projected from the otherwise true flat surface of the free end of the bodysection 14: by means of the intervening web 15 and extended from one upper corner thereof which is outermost in service.

The tongue 15 is coniform, its taper conforming with that of the channels 13 in the body-section 12, and, as shown, the taper is from the normal upper end of the tongue downward.

As the trend of the tongue 15 is at an angle of forty-five degrees with the outer side of the body-section l4 and the vertical ext-eriorside of the rail 11, it will be evident that when the tongue is inserted into the socket or channel 13, that trends from the inner up- ICO per flattened corner of the body-section 12 downward and outward, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the angle-iron rail 11 will have one outer side thereof disposed horizontally for the reception of the frame of a wire-woven bed-bottom that may seat thereon at its edges and thus be supported.

In some cases transverse slats are used for supporting a mattress without the provision of a woven-wire bed-bottom, and to accommodate such slats and hold them from displacement endwise the angle-iron side rails of the bedstead must be turned over, so as to arrange the inner angular corner of the rail uppermost, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, the rail being shown by dotted lines in the latternamed figure.

Ordinarily the tongue-and-socket connections for bedsteads having their rails thus connected to the bedposts must for each style be separately constructed, and thus require the dealer to carry both kinds in stock, so as to meet the wants of the retail trade.

It will be seen that by the construction and arrangement of the tongues and sockets of my improved post and rail connections it is only necessary to turn the rail over and change the engagement of the tongue on its end from one angularly-disposed channel or socket to the other one to provide a smooth top face for the bedstead-rail or an angular surface and the reverse, as occasion may require.

The coniform shape given to the tongues 15 on the ends of the rails 11 and that are held projected from the ends of the body-sections 14 by the webs 15 and their changeable engagement with the conforming channels or sockets 13 in the body-sections 12 on the posts 10 greatly facilitates the coupling together of the two parts of each coupling-joint and their detachment when this is desired.

It will be seen that the diagonal trend of the tongues and sockets, as described, serves to draw the joints closer when weight is imposed thereon, and the construction of the device affords a post and rail connection that is light, strong, shapely, and durable.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- v 1. A post and rail connection, comprising two body-sections, one of said sections having two sockets at its free end, crossed at an angle, the other section having a diagonally-disposed tongue, adapted to occupy either of the sockets.

2. A post and rail connection, comprising two body-sections, one of said sections having two tapering sockets crossing at a right angle through the free end wall of the body-section, and the other section having a coniform tongue spaced from the end of said body-section by a web, said tongue extending diagonally on the end of the body-section and adapted to occupy either of the sockets.

3. The combination with a bedpost and an angle-iron bed-rail, of a joint connection therefor, comprising two body-sections substantially rectangular in cross-section, one section projecting from the post having two diagonally-disposed coniform sockets through the end wall of said body-section and disposed at a right angle to each other, the larger ends of the sockets intersecting the upper corners of said body-section, and a coniform tongue projected by a web diagonally on the free end of the other body-section, the larger end of the tongue being disposed at one upper corner of the body-section and its lower end positioned at an opposite lower corner of said body-section, whereby to dispose a level outer surface of the rail uppermost, or by a change of position of the tongue into the other socket, reverse the sides of the angle-iron rail.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR WILLIAM BUSBY. Witnesses:

CHARLES BRUToN, J. C. BULLooK. 

